
COMMUTER RAIL IN DENVER Railroads of Colorado

Recent business travel took me to Denver. I hadn't been there since 1964 and WOW it's a very different and more complex city. I understand that in 1929 there were only two paved streets in the town. There are a lot of attractions in the city and nearby area.

There is a really great 5.3 mile modern light rail transit system that runs both north and south of the downtown. All 15 stations are for both north-bound and south-bound trains except in downtown where they are on parallel streets. Fares are low: $0.75 off-peak and $1.25 peak. The trains are wheel chair accessible and can carry several bikes. Being two hours off my usual time zone, I had a cheap morning ride each day I was in Denver. Tickets are purchased from ticket vending machines at the stations (or passes purchased by mail) and Light Rail uses roving fare inspectors. Bus transfers are free.

I visited the Forney Transportation Museum located just west of downtown right off Interstate 25. The buildings were built in 1901 for the Denver Tramway Power Company. It originally housed steam engine powered generators for Denver's 156-mile trolley system. Forney was a manufacturer of welding equipment and left money for the museum. Highlight of the museum is a "Big Boy" steam locomotive. Union Pacific 4005 was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1941 and was donated in 1962. It is impressive with over 130 feet in length and a loaded weight of over a million pounds. Fuel (56,000 pounds of coal) and water (24,000 gallons) are impressive too. They also have a rotary snow plow, a "big hook" and some smaller items. A lot of the museum is automotive. It is located at the 1876 birthplace of Denver which is the convergence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek.

Nearby is the Platte Valley Trolley which features an ex-Connecticut Company open trolley (the kind made famous for carrying huge crowds to Yale football games). It is numbered 1977 but I don't think that was the original number. I didn't think there were any open cars in that series of numbers. For instance, Connecticut Electric Railway has 840 and Branford has 1414 and 1425. I wasn't able to get any idea of its history from any of the staff and haven't had a chance to consult any of my roster information. It operates south from the Forney Museum to Decatur Street along the west bank of the river. It has stops at Mile High Stadium, McNichols Arena and the Children's Museum. An extended trip runs on a portion of the interurban line that ran to Golden until 1950. In total, it is a couple of miles long.

The Coors brewery in nearby Golden is interesting because they are such a large rail shipper (both inbound and outbound). Their six red switchers are constantly busy building trains in several small yards and spotting cars near the numerous buildings.

On the road to Golden is the Colorado Railroad Museum. It has lots of narrow gauge stuff and a huge HO model railroad exhibit. Even many of the standard gauge railroads in the area began as narrow gauge.

Some of the attractions I missed were:

· The Pikes Peak Cog Railway (however I did ride it in 1964 before they had the modern Swiss-made cars).

· Royal Gorge has a Frontier Town and Railway.

· Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.

· The Durango & Silverton Narrow Railroad. Home of a coal-fired steam operated narrow gauge train.

· Leadville, Colorado & Southern RR. Shows the splendor of Colorado's high country.

· Georgetown Loop Railroad. Also features tour of Lebanon Silver Mine. Has restored steam locomotives.

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